Read Just a Flirt for Free Online Page B

just—I hate it when people break promises. Like, be a
man and keep your word.”
    “Sadly, men never do, dearie,” said the
kindly cook. “But just wait a little while longer. Tyler never
entertains his lady friends aboard this boat. You must be special
to him if he invited you here. Are you two dating? Are you his
girlfriend?”
    “Pshhh,” Nicole said in disgust at the word.
“I’m just a flirt. This was just a stupid flirtation.”
    “From the look on your face, it seems like
you were expecting more,” the cook said knowingly.
    “What? Hell no,” Nicole said with a glare.
“I always keep things casual. My motto is: just a flirt doesn’t
hurt!”
    “If you’re not hurt, then why are you
smashing dishes?” the cook asked, gesturing to the plate that was
clutched tightly in Nicole’s hand.
    Nicole looked down at her pale fingers in
surprise. “You’re right,” she said with annoyance. “I don’t need
this.” She dropped the plate back onto the table before marching to
the exit of the yacht. She was regretful that she had missed her
flight to spend time with Tyler, and she was ashamed that she had
been looking forward to this evening so much all day. As she
marched across the ship, she allowed herself to unleash a stream of
self-deprecating insults inside her mind.
    She should have known better.
    She was just about to disembark when she
found a large man standing in her path.
    “I’m sorry that I’m late,” Tyler said
sincerely. “The board meetings took longer than I expected.”
    Clenching her fists, Nicole tried to think
of a clever insult. However, when she looked at Tyler’s innocent
face and his soft hair in the low lighting of the harbor, she felt
her anger dissipating. She tried very hard to hold onto that rage.
She knew that it was the only thing that could protect her now.
    “You’re a fucking jackass,” she told him.
“And your boat is ugly.”
    When Nicole turned to walk away, she felt
both of his hands grasping her shoulders to hold her firmly in
place.
    “Another reason I’m late,” Tyler told her,
“is that it took some time to pick out your present.”
    He briefly released his hands from her
shoulders, and in the next moment, Nicole found that he was placing
a large ruby pendant around her neck. She gasped as she looked down
at the size and glimmer of the jewel, and saw that it was encased
in a little row of small diamonds. She lifted her fingers to touch
it, and found that tears were pricking the back of her eyes. Her
father had never apologized for failing to show up to the
restaurant on her birthday. He had completely forgotten. Now here
was this complete stranger being so kind...
    When Tyler finished clasping the chain
behind her neck, he leaned down to place a kiss against her
shoulder. “I’m sorry that I made you angry. But you’re really hot
when you’re angry, so I’m not that sorry.”
    Nicole swiveled around quickly to look into
his face. “Don’t do this,” she told him softly. “I can’t deal with
this. It’s too much. You should return the necklace.”
    Tyler stared down at the gemstone in
admiration. “No way. Now that the ruby has met your breasts, it
would be miserable forever if it needed to be ripped away from
them.” As he spoke, he lifted his fingers to trail them along the
curve of her cleavage. “Besides; breasts this perfect deserve to
have a little attention drawn to them.”
    It was impossible to stay angry at him.
Nicole tried to roll her eyes and seem unaffected, but she was so
happy and relieved that he had shown up. She had already reached
her lifelong limit on disappointments, and she didn’t think that
she could possibly be any more bitter or crass to cope with her
lack of faith in people. She really needed a small good thing to
happen. Even if she never saw Tyler again after this night, at
least she’d have this necklace as a token of his kindness.
    “Want to join me on my boat for another
surprise?” Tyler asked her